GRIFFINS TAKE TWO OF THREE AT MESA INVITATIONAL

SAN DIEGO (9-8-2018) – The Grossmont College women’s volleyball team traveled to San Diego Mesa College to take part in the 2-day, 3-game San Diego Mesa Invitational.

Hard to believe this would be the 33rd invite the Olympians would play host.

The Griffins opened up with the Palomar Comets.

Grossmont started fast and furious out of the gate taking care of the Comets, 25-14, 25-19, and 25-17.

“Opening up the tournament with Palomar allowed us to give some starters rest time while working on other rotations to hypothetically save some of our starters for the rest of the tournament,” said Grossmont head coach JAMIE IVERS.

However, SHANEY LIPSCOMB showed up to the dance to play her own swan song, with 12 of 17 successful kills, two blocks, four aces, and six digs.

Also on tap for her own encore, ALEXIS VANLANDINGHAM, adding 10 kills on 15 attempts, and a block to boot.

Also in on the action, JULIA HOLDEN, with five kills, one assist, and one dig, and NAOMI LEILUA, with five of 13 kills, one assist, three digs, and 4 aces.

Definitely solid play by the bench to assist the Griffins in the sweep of the Comets, 3-0.

The next match, on Saturday, was facing the Cypress Chargers, and once again the dynamic duo set the tempo, as Lipscomb had two of four aces serving, 11 of 24 kills, three assists, three blocks, and 11 digs.

Shaney’s sidekick, ALEXIS VANLANDINGHAM, made 11 of 21 kills, one block, and one Dig. The two are a force to be reckoned with this season.

“Cypress is a good physical team,” said Ivers. “We played well and were able to make adjustments quickly in order to consistently put pressure on them.”

The Griffins took care of the Chargers, 25-15 in the first, dropped the second to the Chargers, 25-23, winning game three and four, 25-20, and 25-22, respectively, as the Griffins took the contest 3-1.

The Lady Griffins would complete their weekend visit to the 33rd San Diego Mesa Invitational facing Moorpark, in which they defeated in five at Grossmont last week.

Facing Moorpark once again, the match ended in five at Mesa, as well.

However, Grossmont would pick up their first loss, 3-2.

In the loss, Grossmont lost the first, second, and fifth, 25-20, 25-23, and 15-12. Grossmont won the third and fourth, 25-21 and 25-23.

Quite a few of the Griffins played well in this match, although it was their first loss on the season.

No surprise, as Lipscomb converted 16 of 32 kills, once ace, two blocks and three digs.

Leilua had a breakout game, with 13 of 30 kills, three aces, four blocks, and four digs, andHolden had nine kills, one assist, and two digs.

“Individually, I was able to find the confidence within myself to push through each point,” said Leilua. “Although we
were losing, being able to dial in on my passing or my hitting, pushing myself to stay focused mentally helped tremendously when we were struggling.

“As a team we have created a positive environment which carried throughout the Moorpark game. As a team, we were able to stay together as no one became an individual player on or off the court. Having that close knit bond is one of the many things I love about my team.

“Made it a priority, despite the loss, to stay focused on the ball we were playing, rather than on the mistakes and keep grinding until each play was over. I feel that pressure situations, like going to five, are exciting and make for a fun match.

“The defense Moorpark ran gave us some great opportunities on the pins to expose their gaps and we took advantage and got the point.”

Said Holden: “We will spend the next few days taking what we learned from the loss to work hard on strengthening our weaknesses. This team has a collective drive to improve and recover quickly so we can come back stronger the next time.”

The Griffins (6-1) will lick their wounds and prepare for battle once again as they head up the 15 N to face Riverside City College (4-2), which just came off a 3-0 win over Imperial Valley.